Door opening device



Oct. 29, 1940n R. l. scHoNrrzER DOOR OPENING DEVICE Filed Feb. 5, 1940 y 1NVENTOR. RUDOLPH 1.5GHoNlTzER.

ATTOEEYS.

Patented Oct. 29, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to door opening devices, the present devices being especially adapted for use with automobile doors or the like and being effective, upon the unlatching of such doors, to automatically open said doors to any desired extent. v

One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of a door opening device having a spring arm for direct engagement, for door opening purposes, with either the door to bev opened or with the supporting structure therefor, upon which said door is hinged. As will hereinafter more fully appear, said spring arm engages said door or its supporting structure in the region of the hinge edge wall thereof, and in order to provide a satisfactory type of engagement, that portion of said arm which engages said door or its supporting structure is of special shape. As here shown, said arm portion is of generally convex form, although it may take other forms, as will be readily understood.

Although door opening devices embodying the present invention may effect the automatic movement of a closed but unlatched door to a partially open position only, each of the devices here illustrated is capable of automatically moving to its fully open position the door with which such device is used.- inasmuch as the spring arm of each of said devices has direct engagement, for door opening purposes, with either the door to be opened or with the supporting structure therefor, and inasmuch as said arm extends through an opening in the hinge edge Wall of either said door or its supporting structure, another object of the present invention is the provision of a door opening device in which the spring arm thereof is of such shape as to enable it to effect the automatic movement of said door to its fully open position without undue and ob- I jectionable enlargement of the hinge edge wall opening through which said arm extends.

Other features of door opening devices embodying the present invention are their structural simplicity, which enables them tobe made and sold at low cost; their strong and rugged character, which enables them to have an exceedingly longv life in service, Without requiring' attention from time to time; and the eiciency with which they perform their door opening function and their function of releasably retaining in open condition the doors with which they are used.

Further features of door opening devices embodying the present invention are in part obvious and in part will appear from the following description lof two of such devices, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an outside elevation of a portion of a closed left front automobile door and an' adjacent portion of the automobile body on which said door is hinged, parts of the outer side walls of said door and body portions being broken away to expose the door opening means associated therewith, latched in such position by any suitable means; Fig. 2vis a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through said door and body portions, the view being on the line 2 2, Figs. l and 3, and the position to which said door 4is automatically movable being shown in dotdash lines; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through said body portion, the view being on the line 3 3, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of a door opening device embodying the present invention, to-vvit, a door opening device in which the helical torsion spring thereof is mounted within the door to be automatically opened, the View being in the plane of the line 4 4, Fig. 5; and Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the automobile door portion shown in Fig. 4, the view being on the line 5 5, Fig. 4.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it is to be understood that such invention is not limited to the details of construction or the specific arrangement of parts herein illustrated or described, as the invention obviously may take other forms. It also is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein employed is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Although door opening devices embodying the present invention are applicable for use with any hinged door having its hinge edge Wall oppositely positioned or in generally abutting relationship With respect to the hinge edge Wall of its supporting structurel (the structure on which said door is hinged), said devices areparticularly useful, as heretofore pointed out, with the doors of automobiles or the like, and for vpurposes of illustration and not of limitation, the use of two of such door opening devices with present-day automobile doors is here shown and described. Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, it will be noted that the left front automobile door I there fragmentarily shown has associated therewith one form of door opening device embodying the present invention, said door having its transverse front edge wall 2 suitably hinged, as is usual, on the transverse rear edge wall 3 of that portion of the automobile body shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive and designated generally by the reference numeral 4. As best shown in Fig. 2, when the door I is in its closed position, the

door and body edge walls 2 and 3 (which edge walls are hereinafter termed hinge edge walls") are in oppositely positioned relationship, or in what may be termed generally abutting relationship, by which is meant that such hinge edge walls are oppositely positioned or disposed and either in'actual contact or, as here shown, relatively close to each other.

Because of the outside curvatures which are given to present-day automobile bodies, including the turn-underfy on the sides-of which bodies the one fragmentarily shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is typical-the upper hinge 5 for the door I is here shown as of the concealed type and the lower hinge 6 for such door is here shown as of the exposed type. As a result of such combination of hinges, the door hinging axis :v -y, shown in Figs. 1 and 3, is located partly outside and partly inside the automobile body portion 4, as will be readily understood.

Although any suitable means may be utilized for releasably retaining the door I in its closed position (the position of said door in Fig. 1 and the full line position of said door in Fig. 2) and for actuating said retaining means to release said door for opening movement (said retaining means being hereinafter referred to broadly as latch means) devices embodying the present invention are particularly useful in conjunction with doors whose latch means have push-buttons or the like for effecting release actuation of said latch means, as the opening of said doors (to either predetermined partially open positions thereof or to their fully open positions, whichever is desired) is automatically effected by the present devices. Projecting handles-by the use of which present-day automobile doors are unlatched and manually openednot only are dangerous (in that many severe injuries have been caused by them) butalso, said projecting handles seriously interfere with the streamlining effects now desired for automobile bodies. Inasmuch as a door opening device embodying the present invention effects, upon the unlatching of the door with which it is used, the automatic 'opening of said door to any desired extent, the use for door opening purposes of the present-day handles for such a door is wholly unnecessary. As a result, simple push-buttons or the like, desirable from many standpoints, may be used with the latch means of a door with which is used an automatic opening device of the character here involved.

The latch means, therefore, of the automobile door I of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive may be, and preferably is, of the type in which push-buttons or the like are utilized for effecting release actuation thereof. For example, said latch means may be of the form disclosed in my copending application for Door opening devices, filed August 2l, 1939, Serial No. 291,240, or in other words, latch means embodying the inventionv of my prior United States Patent No. 2,094,413, for Door control mechanism, to which patent reference may be had, if desired. However, inasmuch as the latch means of the door I forms no part of the present invention, no latch means for such door is here shown or described.

As will hereinafter more fully appear, each of the two door opening devices here illustrated (devices which are capable of automatically swinging relatively heavy doors, such as presentday automobile doors, to any desired open positions, including their fully open positions) ls of simple and inexpensive character and of such compact form that it may be easily and conveniently mounted between the general planes of the side walls of an automobile door and the general planes of the side walls of that portion of the automobile body on which said door is hinged, there being more or less alignment of the outer side walls of such a door and such a body portion, and more or lessalignment of the inner side walls of such a door and such a body portion, when said door is in its closed position, as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 4. As a result, such door opening devices not only are eminently satisfactory from structural and functional standpoints but also, are commercially practical for present-day automobile doors, inasmuch as said devices are concealed from view when the doors with which they are used are in their closed positions and are exposed to such a limited extent as to be substantially unnoticeable even when said doors are in their fully open positions. `Although dooropening devices embodying the present invention4 may take various forms, each of the two door opening devices here illustrated comprises a self-contained spring unit, the parts of which (including a helical torsion spring which is at least partially loaded at all times) are capable of being easily and conveniently assembled before the association of such unit with an automobile door (as in that embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5) or with that portion of an automobile body on which such a door is hinged (as in that embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive).

As heretofore mentioned, two forms of door opening devices embodying the present invention are here illustrated, and the door opening device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive will now be specifically described, after which the distinguishing features of the other door opening device, illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, will be referred to.

As clearly shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the self-contained spring unit of the device for effecting automatic opening movement of the automobile door I, when said door is closed but unlatched, includes a suitable bracket, such as the generally C-shaped sheet metal bracket 9, and a pintle bolt Ill carried thereby and suitably secured thereto. free end portions of said bracket are provided with rearwardly projecting apertured flanges II and I2 through which said bolt extends, the head I3 of said bolt resting upon the upper bracket flange II and a clamping nut I4, threaded upon the lower end portion of said bolt, engaging from below the lower bracket flange I2. As a result, said bolt is rmly secured to the bracket 9, by means which makes the assembly and disassembly of such parts easy and simple of accomplishment. Surrounding .said bolt, between the bracket flanges II and I2 by which it is carried, are the coils of a helical torsion spring I5, the upper end portion I6 of which spring constitutes the door opening arm thereof, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

This self-contained spring unit of the door opening device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is carried by the automobile body portion 4 adjacent its hinge edge wall 3 and between the general plane of its outer side wall I1 and the general plane of its inner side wall I8, Athe general planes of said side walls, as that term is here used, being those planes which not only include such side Walls but which also project therebeyond, as will be read'- As here shown, the upper and lower ily understood. Although the bracket 9 of this spring unit may be secured to the automobile body portion 4 in any suitable manner and by any suitable means, said bracket is here bolted, as at 20, to the transversely disposed wall 2l of a sheet metal reinforcement pillar 22 with which said automobile body portion is suitably provided. As here shown, said bracket lies alongside the front surface of said pillar wall 2I and the pintle bolt Ill of said bracket, and the torsion spring I5 surrounding said bolt, are disposed substantially at the rear of said pillar Wall, there being a suitable opening in said wall through which extend the rearwardly projecting bracket flanges I I and I2.

As heretofore pointed out, the upper end portion I6 of the torsion spring I5 is the door opening arm of said spring, and said arm has a normal tendency, when the unit of which it is a part is bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the body pillar wall ZI, to swing in a door opening direction, or in other words, in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2. The lower end portion 2li of said spring has a normal tendency, as will be readily understood, toswing in the opposite direction, but such movement of this lower spring end portion is here prevented by its engagement with the upright intermediate portion of the bracket 9, the eii'ect of such engagement being, of course, the effective "anchoring of this lower spring end portion.

In order to enable the upper, door opening spring arm I6 to cooperate with or be eifective upon the automobile door I, for door opening purposes, a suitable opening, such as the transverse slot 26, is provided, adjacent said arm, in

the hinge edge wall 3 of the automobile body portion 4, and through said hinge edge wall slot the spring arm I6 extends for direct engagement with said door in the region of its hinge edge wall 2. As here shown, it is the hinge edge wall of said door that is directly engaged by said spring arm, and to make that engagement of a satisfactory nature, the free end portion 21 of said armwhich is the portion thereof which engages said door hinge edge wall-is of generally convex form, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. iAs a result of the convex or rounded shape of the spring arm portion 21, the automatic opening movement of the door I under the influence of said arm, and the return or counterbalance movement of such arm, under the influence of said door during manual closing movement thereof, are brought about iin a particularly eective manner, all as will be readily understood.

Although the door opening device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive may be readily modified, if desired, (such as in the manner hereinafter explained) to automatically effect the movement of the automobile door I to apartially open position onlyfurther opening movement of said door being manually effected-said device Aas shown effects the automatic movement of said door to its fully open position, the position of said door in dot-dash lines, Fig. 2. For the accomplishment of that result (the automatic movement of thedoor I to its fully open position),

and without objectionable or undue enlargement y in the length of the transverse arm-receiving or bends), the length of the hinge edge wall slot y 26 in the automobile body portion 4 may be considerably less than the width of such hinge edge wall, as here shown, and yet the door I may be automatically swung, without hindrance whatsoever, to its fully open position. The effect of the bowing. of the intermediate portion 28 of the spring arm I6 is, of course, the enabling of such arm portion to more or less straddle, when the door I is in fully open position, that portion of the hinge edge wall 3 of the automobile body portion 4 which lies at the outer end of its transverse slot 26, all as clearly shown by the dot-dash position of said arm in Fig. 2.

If it is desired to have the device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive effect partial opening movement only of the door I, it is merely necessary to arrest door opening or clockwise movement of the spring arm I6 of such device when said door has been automatically swung by said arm to the desired partially open position. Such a result 'can be easily and conveniently accomplished, for

.door opening devices, namely, by providing the upper bracket flange II with a depending abutment for engagement by the spring arm I6 during door opening or clockwise movement thereof.

The location of said abutment is, of course, such that when the door I has been automatically swung by said arm tothe desired partially open position, said arm will engage said abutment with the consequent arresting of further door opening or clockwise movement of said arm and further automatic opening movement of said door. Therefore, by merely varying the location of said abutment, the partially open position to which said door is automatically movable can be readily predetermined, as desired. Another simple way of limiting the door opening or clockwise movement of the spring arm I6, to enable the device vof Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive to automatically eifect the movement of the door I to a partially open position only, is by reducing the length, or the outward extent, of the body hinge edge wall slot 26 through which said armextends, or by changing the shape of the intermediate portion 28 of said spring arm, to thereby utilize the outer end of said slot 26 as an arm abutment means, all as will be readily understood.

As heretofore pointed out, the device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is effective to automatically swing the door I to its fully open position. Therefore, the body hinge edge wall slot 26 is of sufficient length, or of sufcient outward extent, toipermit the spring arm I6 which extends therethrough to swing in a door opening or clockwise direction sufficiently* to enable the door I tobe automatically moved to its fully open position. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the length, or outward extent, of the body hinge edge wall slot 26 is such as to arrest the door opening or clockwise movement of the spring arm I6 when the door I reaches that position thereof which is 1to constitute its fully open position, the e'ect of which is the arresting, of course, of further automatic opening movement of said door. 1. f

As will be readily understood, the door opening -device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive not only effects the automatic movement to an open position of the door I (and such position of the door may be either a partially open position or a fully open position) but also, yieldingly resists (but only to the desired degree) the closing movement of said door beyond the position to which said door has been automatically opened. Therefore, if the position to which the door I is automatically move able is a partially open position, the closing of said door from such position will be yieldingly resisted, and inasmuch as the inclined hinge axis I .r-y of said door causes said door to have a normal tendency to close, said door will remain in such partially open position unless it is manually closed or manually moved to a further open position. If, on the other hand, the position to which the door I is automatically movable is its fully open position, as here shown, the closing of said door from said fully open position will be yieldingly resisted, and said door therefore, will be releasably held or retained in its fully open position. As a result no separate holding means ishere necessary for the releasable retention of the door I in its fully open position. However, if said door were automatically movable to a partially open position only, and if the releasable rel tention of said door in its fully open position were desired, the use of such a separate holdingA means would be necessary, all as will be readily understood.

arm I6 of the torsion spring I5 is swung (dueto the engagement of the hinge edge wall 2 of said door with the convex portion 21 of said arm) in a door closing or counter-clockwise direction to what is here termed its operative position, which is the position of said arm when the door is closed; The movement to its operative position of such arm of said spring effects, of course, the desired loading of said spring, and thereby, enables said spring, when its arm I6 is in its operative position, to automatically effect, upon the unlatching of the door I, the movement of said door either to a predetermined partially open position therelof or, as here shown, to its fully open position.

Because of the use for the -automobile door I' of a lower hinge 6 of exposed form and an upper hinge 5 of concealed form, the hinge axis -y of said door has an inclined disposition, as shown in Fig. 3, said axis, as heretofore pointed out, being partly outside andpartly inside: the automobile body portion 4. Preferably and as here shown (see Fig. 3) the spring unit of the door opening device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is so mounted on the automobile body portion 4 that the generally vertical axis a-b o the torsion spring I5 of such unit intersects the inclined hinge axis :1r-y of the door I at the center of oscillation of the arm I6 of said spring, and as a result, there is no slippage in the engagement of said spring arm with the door hinge edge wall 2, and no liability of objectionable noise or undue wear, all as will be readily understood. v

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be noted that the device for effecting automatic opening movement of the left front automobile door Ia- (a device which also embodies, of course, the present invention) is carried by said door, rather than by the automobile body portion 4a on which said door is hinged. As a result, the spring arm I6a of the torsion spring I5a of such device has the self-contained spring unit of the door opening device of Figs. 4 and 5 is' screwed or other.

wise suitably secured directly to the hinge edge wall 2a of the door Ia, said bracket lying alongside the inner surface of said hinge edge wall, with the consequent disposition of the pintle bolt Illa of such unit, and the torsion spring I5a carried by said bolt, within said door. For the anchoring of the lower end portion 24a. of said spring, which end portion has a normal tendency to move in a clockwise direction, Fig. 4, an exten sion 30 on the lower bracket flange I2a. is here provided as an anchoring abutment for such lower spring end portion, and to enable the upper arm ISa of said spring to directly engage, for door opening purposes, the hinge edge wall 3a of the automobile body portion 4a, a suitable opening, here shown as a transverse slot 26a, is provided in the door hinge edgewall 2a for the extension of said arm therethrough.

For its direct engagement with the body portion hinge edge wall 3a, the spring arm IGa has a free end portion 21a of generally convex form, and inasmuch as sucharm portion slides' along such hinge edge wall during opening and closing movements of the door Ia, (it being impossible to have the center of oscillation of said arm on the hinge axis of said door), it is, of course, quite important that the spring arm portion 21a be of convex form as here shown, or otherwise suitably shaped, as will be readily understood.

Like the device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the device of Figs. 4 and 5 is capable of eecting, and here does effect, the automatic movement of the door Ia to its fully open position, the position of said door in dot-dash lines, Fig. 4, a1-l of the door with which it is used to a partially open position only. Also, like the spring arm I6 of the device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the spring arm |60. of the device of Figs. 4 and 5 is so shaped that it is unnecessary to unduly and objectionably enlarge the length of the hinge edge wall slot 26a through which it extends. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, the spring arm ISa has an intermediate portion 28a of bowed form which definitely straddles, when the door Ia is in its fully open position, that portion of the door hinge edge wall 2a which lies at the outer end of its arm-receiving slot 25a.

The operative position of the spring arm I6a is, of course, its position when the door Ia is closed, and when such arm is in that position, it is ready and able to effect, upon the unlatching of said door, the automatic movement of said door to any desired open position, all as will be readily understood.

N o' further reference to the door opening device of Figs. 4. and 5 is believed to be necessary, as its manner of operation, etc., will be readily apparent from the foregoing description of the door opening device of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates.

What I claim is:

1. A device for automatically opening a closed but unlatched door structure so hinged on a supporting structure that when said door structure is in its closed position the transverse hinge -edge walls of said structures are in generally abutting relationship, said device comprising a helical torsion spring adapted to .be mounted within one of said structures between its two side walls and adjacent its hinge edge wall, means for anchoring one end portion of said spring, the other end portion of said spring being adapted to extend at all times through an opening with which such structure hinge edge wall is provided and having a generally convex part for direct engagement with the hinge edge wall of the other of said structures and also having an intermediate part of bowed form to extend around a side edge of said edgewall opening lwhen. the door structure has been opened a certain amount, and said last mentioned spring end portion being movable to an operative position, with the consequent loading of said spring to the desired degree, upon the closing of the door structure, and said last mentioned spring end portion being effective when in such operative position to automatically swing said closed door structure, if unlatched, to an open position.

2. A device for automatically opening a closed but unlatched door Structure so hinged on a supporting structure that when said door structure is in its.v closed position the transverse hinge edge walls of said vstructures are in generally abutting relationship, said device comprising a helical torsion spring adapted to be mounted within one of said structures between its two side walls and adjacent its hinge edge wall, means for anchoring one end portion' of said spring, the other end portion of said spring being adapted to extend at all times through an opening with which such structure hinge edge wall is provided and having a part engageable with but free of attachment to the hinge ed'ge wall of the other of said structures and also having an intermediate part of bowed form to extend around a side edge of said edge wall opening when the door structure has been opened a certain amount, and said last mentioned spring end portion being movable to an operative position, with the consequent loading of said spring to the desired degree, upon the closing of the door structure, and said last mentioned spring end portion being effective when in such operative position to automatically swing said closed door structure, if unlatched, to an open position.

RUDOLPH I. SCHONITZER.

CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,219,821. october 29, 19140.

RUDOLPH I. SCHONITZER. l It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, first column, line 51, for the word counter-balance" read -counterclockwise; and that the said Lette-rs Patd't should he rea'dwith this correction therein that the same may conform to thehrecord of: the cas-e in the Patent Office.

signed and sealed this mth day of January, A. D. 19h21,.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

